The Truth About Milk

“Raw milk” is milk in its natural state, Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy, explains in this excellent article. It comes from the cow, without heat treatment or pasteurization, which is used to extend shelf life and to immobilize certain bacteria.

But people, milk, and bacteria can coexist. It is normal for milk to contain some bacteria, and human societies have been benefiting from these bacteria in milk for thousands of years. Fermented milks, for instance, have superior nutrient value and digestibility. Today these products are marketed as containing “probiotics,” as if this is something brand new.

Yet, bacteria have always existed in natural milk. In fact, bacteria:

Are earth’s oldest life forms

Are everywhere

Are essential for human survival

Comprise more than 90 percent of the cells in the human body

Public obsession with killing bacteria misdirects efforts at improving public health -- because relatively few bacteria are pathogenic. By constantly sterilizing, pasteurizing, and disinfecting, the balance is actually tipped in favor of the pathogens.

It is difficult to get at the truth because so much research on milk is little more than advertising -- self-interested and commercial. But you can educate yourself directly and make health choices without the intervention of so-called “experts.”

If you do, you will find that raw milk, loaded with beneficial bacteria, is the better choice.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It is quite an oxymoron to have to call milk “raw,” as though there is something unfinished about it. It is pasteurized milk that we should really be calling attention to, as this is the type of milk that’s been adulterated and turned into something not fit for drinking.

It’s ironic, too, that Louis Pasteur, the mastermind behind the “pasteurization” process, is revered by scientists and food manufacturers alike. As McAfee pointed out, pasteurization is useful if you need to drink low-quality (i.e. disease-ridden) milk.

Interestingly, Louis Pasteur did not only discover pasteurization. He also came up with the “Germ Theory of Disease,” which states that “a specific disease is caused by a specific type of microorganism.”

This is what spurred doctors to begin disinfecting their surgical instruments in boiling water -- clearly important. But it’s also what became the basis for modern medicine, including the pharmaceutical industry. Now, this theory certainly has some merit. But it’s become largely simplified and over-relied upon, even today when we know that disease is caused by many more factors than a simple germ or virus.

Which brings me back to the milk.

Government agencies would have you believe that if there’s bacteria in your milk, that will make you sick.

Well, this is the same type of oversimplified and incorrect logic that allowed pasteurized milk to proliferate the market in the first place.

In reality, bacteria is in milk for a reason, and as long as it comes from a healthy cow, the good bacteria will keep the bad bacteria in your gut in check, and will proceed to do the same inside of your body.

So the next time you hear someone talking about the merits of pasteurization, you may want to tell them this:

Upon his deathbed, Louis Pasteur admitted his theory was not entirely correct. Instead, he conceded that physiologist Claude Bernard had it right.

Bernard said that microbes do exist, but that “terrain is everything.”

“Terrain” refers to your body, and his theory means that it’s not the microbes that determine whether or not you get sick, it’s the health of the body in which they exist.

To prove his theory, Bernard reportedly then drank a glass of water filled with cholera to show that the germs wouldn’t make him sick.

Countless anecdotal reports exist from regular people around the world who have experienced the health benefits of drinking raw milk. Arthritis, Crohn’s disease, asthma, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic ear infections and more often seem to clear up when raw milk enters the picture.

Yet, long before milk began being called “raw” or “pasteurized” -- back when milk was just milk -- there was something called “the milk cure,” and it was used by the Mayo Foundation, which today is known as the Mayo Clinic.

An article by Dr. J. R. Crewe of the Mayo Foundation on this very topic was published in Certified Milk Magazine in January 1929. You can read it in its entirety on the Real Milk Web site.

In it, Crewe quotes William Osler, author of a standard medical textbook of the day, who described “milk as being nothing more than white blood. Milk resembles blood closely and is a useful agent for improving and making new and better blood.”

The milk cure was a combination of a detoxifying fast and nutrient-dense feeding, which included milk “given at half hour intervals … totaling from five to ten quarts of milk a day.”

The treatment was used in many chronic conditions, but according to the article “chiefly in tuberculosis, diseases of the nervous system, cardiovascular and renal conditions, hypertension, and in patients who are underweight, run-down, etc. Striking results are seen in diseases of the heart and kidneys and high blood pressure.”

What did the doctors conclude?

“When sick people are limited to a diet containing an excess of vitamins and all the elements necessary to growth and maintenance, which are available in milk, they recover rapidly without the use of drugs and without bringing to bear all the complicated weapons of modern medicine.”

Imagine that!

Ready to Try it Out for Yourself?

Many of you reading this may have heard about raw milk, but are hesitant to take the plunge. Well, I suggest you talk to people in your area who drink raw milk and eat raw dairy products. I assure you there are more raw-milk drinkers around than you may think.

And you don’t have to stop with milk. Most raw-milk providers also offer other wonderful raw dairy products like cheeses, sour cream, kefir, yogurt, butter, and fresh cream.

The flavor of these dairy products is probably like nothing you’ve ever tasted -- rich, creamy, sweet and incredibly fresh. And when you add in the superb health benefits, well, you just can’t go wrong.

Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using products based on this content.

If you want to use an article on your site please click here. This content may be copied in full, with copyright, contact, creation and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Dr. Mercola is required.

Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using products based on this content.

If you want to use an article on your site please click here. This content may be copied in full, with copyright, contact, creation and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Dr. Mercola is required.